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Compare World (2004) - Sri Lanka (2001)

Compare World (2004) z Sri Lanka (2001)

 World (2004)Sri Lanka (2001)
 WorldSri Lanka
Administrative divisions 271 nations, dependent areas, and other entities 8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western; note - North Eastern province may have been divided in two - Northern and Eastern
Age structure 0-14 years: 28.2% (male 925,276,767; female 875,567,830)


15-64 years: 64.5% (male 2,083,789,165; female 2,033,226,759)


65 years and over: 7.2% (male 203,286,504; female 257,705,851)


note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure (2004 est.)
0-14 years:
25.99% (male 2,578,618; female 2,464,928)

15-64 years:
67.39% (male 6,369,881; female 6,708,852)

65 years and over:
6.62% (male 615,253; female 671,103) (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products - rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
Airports - 14 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways - total:
12

over 3,047 m:
1

1,524 to 2,437 m:
5

914 to 1,523 m:
6 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total:
2

1,524 to 2,437 m:
1

under 914 m:
1 (2000 est.)
Area total: 510.072 million sq km


land: 148.94 million sq km


water: 361.132 million sq km


note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
total:
65,610 sq km

land:
64,740 sq km

water:
870 sq km
Area - comparative land area about 16 times the size of the US slightly larger than West Virginia
Background Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1802. As Ceylon it became independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester.
Birth rate 20.24 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) 16.58 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Budget - revenues:
$3 billion

expenditures:
$3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Capital - Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Climate two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
Coastline 356,000 km


note: 98 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bassas da India, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Europa Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Juan de Nova Island, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tromelin Island, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
1,340 km
Constitution - adopted 16 August 1978
Country name - conventional long form:
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

conventional short form:
Sri Lanka

former:
Serendib, Ceylon
Currency - Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Death rate 8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) 6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Debt - external $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.) $9.9 billion (2000)
Diplomatic representation from the US - chief of mission:
Ambassador E. Ashley WILLS

embassy:
210 Galle Road, Colombo 3

mailing address:
P. O. Box 106, Colombo

telephone:
[94] (1) 448007

FAX:
[94] (1) 437345
Diplomatic representation in the US - chief of mission:
Ambassador Warnasena RASAPUTRAM

chancery:
2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:
[1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028)

FAX:
[1] (202) 232-7181

consulate(s) general:
Los Angeles

consulate(s):
New York
Disputes - international stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 325 international land boundaries separate the 192 independent states and 72 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for national security at sea; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; most disputes over the alignment of political boundaries are confined to short segments and are today less common and less hostile than borderland, resource, and territorial disputes; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries, however, encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation around the world; disputes over islands at sea or in rivers frequently form the source of territorial and boundary conflict; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, and arable land; nonetheless, most nations cooperate to clarify their international boundaries and to resolve territorial and resource disputes peacefully; regional discord directly affects the sustenance and welfare of local populations, often leaving the world community to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, deforestation, and desertification none
Economic aid - recipient official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion $577 million (1998)
Economy - overview Global output rose by 3.7% in 2003, led by China (9.1%), India (7.6%), and Russia (7.3%). The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5%-7% range of growth. Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from a loss by Germany (-0.1%) to a strong gain by the United States (3.1%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continue into 2004. In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an annual average rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-98 with growth of 6.4% and 4.7% - but slowed to 4.3% in 1999. Growth increased to 5.6% in 2000, with growth in tourism and exports leading the way. But a resurgence of civil war between the Sinhalese and the minority Tamils and a possible slowdown in tourism dampen prospects for 2001. For the next round of reforms, the central bank of Sri Lanka recommends that Colombo expand market mechanisms in nonplantation agriculture, dismantle the government's monopoly on wheat imports, and promote more competition in the financial sector.
Electricity - consumption 13.94 trillion kWh (2001 est.) 5.604 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports - 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports - 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - production 14.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.) 6.026 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel:
29.9%

hydro:
70.1%

nuclear:
0%

other:
0% (1999)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m


note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m

highest point:
Pidurutalagala 2,524 m
Environment - current issues large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by poaching and urbanization; coastal degradation from mining activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff; waste disposal; air pollution in Colombo
Environment - international agreements - party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:
Marine Life Conservation
Ethnic groups - Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
Exchange rates - Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 83.506 (January 2001), 77.005 (2000), 70.635 (1999), 64.450 (1998), 58.995 (1997), 55.271 (1996)
Executive branch - chief of state:
President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ratnasiri WICKRAMANAYAKE (since 10 August 2000) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the chief of state and the head of the government, this is in contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when both offices exist

head of government:
President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ratnasiri WICKRAMANAYAKE (since 10 August 2000) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the chief of state and the head of the government, this is in contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when both offices exist

cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister

elections:
president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 21 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2005)

election results:
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA reelected president; percent of vote - Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (PA) 51%, Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (UNP) 42%, other 7%
Exports 712 billion cu m (2001 est.) $5.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products
Exports - partners US 16.4%, Germany 7.9%, UK 5.2%, France 5.1%, China 5%, Japan 4.6% (2003) US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%, Germany 5%, Japan 4% (1999)
Fiscal year - calendar year
Flag description - yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag and extends between the two panels
GDP GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $51.48 trillion (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $62.7 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 4%


industry: 32%


services: 64% (2004 est.)
agriculture:
21%

industry:
19%

services:
60% (1998)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $3,250 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 3.8% (2003 est.) 5.6% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates - 7 00 N, 81 00 E
Geography - note the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
Highways total: NA km


paved: NA km


unpaved: NA km
total:
11,285 km

paved:
10,721 km

unpaved:
564 km (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA


highest 10%: NA
lowest 10%:
1.8%

highest 10%:
39.7% (1995-96 est.)
Illicit drugs cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 173,450 hectares-almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2003 is estimated at 728 metric tons (or 835 metric tons of export quality cocaine); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru; 376 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2003, and 26 metric tons disrupted (jettisoned or destroyed); consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 800 metric tons


opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 137,944 hectares in 2003-mostly in Southwest and Southeast Asia-with 44% in Afghanistan, potentially produced 3,775 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 429 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam
-
Imports 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.) $6.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services machinery and equipment, textiles, petroleum, foodstuffs
Imports - partners US 9.9%, Germany 9.4%, China 7.9%, Japan 6.7%, France 4.7% (2003) Japan 10%, India 9%, Hong Kong 8%, Singapore 8%, South Korea 6% (1999)
Independence - 4 February 1948 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate 3% (2002 est.) 4% (1999)
Industries dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
Infant mortality rate total: 50.31 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 52.17 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 48.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
16.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries (2003 est.) 8.5% (2000 est.)
International organization participation - AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 5 (2000)
Irrigated land 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) 5,500 sq km (1993 est.)
Judicial branch - Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president
Labor force NA 6.6 million (1998)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.)
Land boundaries the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries


note: 43 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
0 km
Land use arable land: 10.73%


permanent crops: 1%


other: 88.27% (2001)
arable land:
14%

permanent crops:
15%

permanent pastures:
7%

forests and woodland:
32%

other:
32% (1993 est.)
Languages Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)


note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%

note:
English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Legal system all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch - unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional representation system by district to serve six-year terms)

elections:
last held 10 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2006)

election results:
percent of vote by party - PA 45.11%, UNP 40.22%, JVP 6%, NUA 2.29%, SU 1.48%, TULF 1.23%, other 3.67%; seats by party - PA 107, UNP 89, JVP 10, TULF 5, EPDP 4, NUA 4, TELO 3, ACTC 1, SU 1, independent 1
Life expectancy at birth total population: 64.05 years


male: 62.48 years


female: 65.7 years (2004 est.)
total population:
72.09 years

male:
69.58 years

female:
74.73 years (2001 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 77%


male: 83%


female: 71% (1995 est.)
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
90.2%

male:
93.4%

female:
87.2% (1995 est.)
Location - Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Map references Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World Asia
Maritime claims a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm contiguous zone:
24 NM

continental shelf:
200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
Merchant marine - total:
20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 149,902 GRT/247,852 DWT

ships by type:
bulk 1, cargo 16, container 1, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1 (2000 est.)
Military branches - Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) $719 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) 4.2% (FY98)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49:
5,304,323 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49:
4,119,511 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males:
193,522 (2001 est.)
National holiday - Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Nationality - noun:
Sri Lankan(s)

adjective:
Sri Lankan
Natural hazards large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) occasional cyclones and tornadoes
Natural resources the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower
Net migration rate - -1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Pipelines - crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)
Political parties and leaders - All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC [Nalliah GURUPAUAN]; Ceylon Workers Congress or CLDC [Arumugam THONDAMAN]; Communist Party [Raja COLLURE]; Democratic United National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF [Srimani ATHULATHMUDALI]; Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRA]; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [leader NA]; People's Alliance or PA [Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDDATHAN]; Sihala Urumaya or SU [leader NA]; Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM and Ferial ASHRAFF]; Sri Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF [leader NA]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO [SUBRAMANIUM]; Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF [R. SAMPATHAN]; United National Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMASINGHE]; Upcountry People's Front or UPF [P. CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in either parliament or provincial councils
Political pressure groups and leaders - Buddhist clergy; labor unions; Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE (insurgent group fighting for a separate state); radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups
Population 6,379,157,361 (July 2004 est.) 19,408,635 (July 2001 est.)

note:
since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of mid-1999, approximately 66,000 were housed in 133 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West
Population below poverty line - 22% (1997 est.)
Population growth rate 1.14% (2004 est.) 0.87% (2001 est.)
Ports and harbors Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
Radio broadcast stations AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios - 3.85 million (1997)
Railways total: 1,115,205 km


broad gauge: 257,481 km


standard gauge: 671,413 km


narrow gauge: 186,311 km (2003)
total:
1,463 km

broad gauge:
1,404 km 1.676-m gauge

narrow gauge:
59 km 0.762-m gauge (1996)
Religions Christians 32.71% (of which Roman Catholics 17.28%, Protestants 5.61%, Orthodox 3.49%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.67%, Hindus 13.28%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 13.05%, non-religious 12.43%, atheists 2.41% (2002 est.) Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female


total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.92 male(s)/female

total population:
0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Suffrage - 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA
general assessment:
very inadequate domestic service, particularly in rural areas; some hope for improvement with privatization of national telephone company and encouragement to private investment; good international service (1999)

domestic:
national trunk network consists mostly of digital microwave radio relay; fiber-optic links now in use in Colombo area and two fixed wireless local loops have been installed; competition is strong in mobile cellular systems; telephone density remains low at 2.6 main lines per 100 persons (1999)

international:
submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999)
Telephones - main lines in use 843,923,500 (2003) 494,509 (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA 228,604 (1999)
Television broadcast stations NA 21 (1997)
Terrain the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Total fertility rate 2.62 children born/woman (2004 est.) 1.95 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment 8.8% (1999 est.)
Waterways - 430 km (navigable by shallow-draft craft)
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